Chapter 178: Absolute Villain

"I am Mei Changfeng."

On Blessing Road, Dagai stared at the first sentence on the Embroidery, his face instantly draining of color beneath his tattered clothes.

He hurriedly stuffed the Embroidery into his robes and glanced around to see if anyone had noticed.

To his surprise, he spotted a young Beggar Cultivator standing at the street corner, peering in his direction.

Realizing Dagai was looking at him, the young Beggar Cultivator cheerfully cupped his hands in greeting.

Dagai tightened his lips and quietly closed the distance between them.

Soon after...

He washed the blood from his hands, dealt with the corpse on the spot, and returned to his room.

He hadn't gotten a clear look at the text on the Embroidery earlier. Now, pulling it out and reading the words, he felt the same gripping fear:

I am Mei Changfeng.

From this day forth, South Street is once again under the Mei Family's jurisdiction. Violators will face the extermination of their entire household.

Informants will suffer the same fate.

"Crazy. He's absolutely crazy."

He muttered under his breath, clutching the Embroidery tightly, momentarily at a loss for what to do.

Right now, any news regarding Mei Changfeng was a hot potato on South Street. If those brainless killing cultivators discovered he had ties to Mei Changfeng, Blessing Road would be finished for good.

But... if he reported this?

The Wei Faction definitely wouldn't let it slide. They would swarm in like a pack of wild dogs smelling a bone.

So what was he supposed to do?

His expression twisted further the more he thought about it. The Embroidery in his hand felt like a pile of dog shit on the side of the road—once stepped in, it was impossible to scrape off.

While he was still hesitating, the words on the Embroidery suddenly began to writhe.

Then, right before his shocked eyes, they scurried off and vanished without a trace.

Where did they go?!

He immediately looked around, his weird energy surging as he tried to seek out those threads.

Otherwise... he was certain he wouldn't be able to sleep for nights on end.

But... ultimately, he couldn't find the threads.

He could only lie back in bed, completely unnerved.

He tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

Many others found themselves in the exact same predicament.

Mu Ruyan stared at the now-blank Embroidery in her hands and let out a cold laugh.

To think...

The Young Master of the Luo Family had barely left, and now a young master of the Mei Family showed up.

She recalled the message Luo Sheng had someone pass on to her:

"The sky has its clear and cloudy days. Taking a boat across the lake before the waves rise is one price. But once the waves swell, the wind howls, and the waters surge, boarding the boat will cost an entirely different price."

"Heh. Clear and cloudy days, my ass. When the storm really hits, he'll just be the first one smashed to death against the shore."

Her gaze turned icy. Without giving it another thought, Mu Ruyan turned and went back inside her room to rest.

But she could never have expected what happened next.

Early the next morning.

Yan Jing and Wei Nantian made a grand spectacle of gathering all the killing cultivators in the courtyard.

Today, Yan Jing had changed into a deep blue warlord uniform, complete with a stiff-brimmed peaked cap, a cowhide belt cinched around his waist, and leather military boots.

"Everyone!!!"

Wei Nantian bellowed at the top of his lungs, startling the crowd below into a collective shudder.

"Today, the advisor will take the lead! He's taking you out to hunt down information on that fugitive, Mei Changfeng. If you find any faction harboring the criminal, execute them on the spot!!!"

"Do you understand?!"

"Understood!!!"

The crowd roared in unison.

"Come, advisor, say a few words."

Wei Nantian patted Yan Jing's shoulder.

"Alright, I'll say a few words."

Yan Jing raised his voice and shouted:

"On this excursion, there is only one crucial point!"

"Do you know what that point is?"

As his voice echoed, the men below exchanged confused glances.

"You don't even know this?"

Yan Jing's expression turned incredibly solemn:

"That point is—"

He drew out the words.

"We absolutely cannot make Commander Wei lose face!!!"

"Do you understand?"

Realization dawned on the crowd.

They understood perfectly.

The only crucial point was to thoroughly kiss Commander Wei's ass.

It seemed their new advisor was a master of brown-nosing.

"Understood!!!"

"Good! Let's move out!"

Wasting no more time, Yan Jing waved his hand, and the crowd surged out of the courtyard with murderous intent.

Their first stop was the Opera House.

According to Yan Jing's logic, this was a place Mei Changfeng used to control, and the most dangerous place was often the safest place—making it Mei Changfeng's most likely hiding spot.

Upon entering the Opera House, Yan Jing didn't bother with pleasantries:

"Search it!!!"

This was the very definition of throwing one's weight around.

This completely terrified everyone in the Opera House.

Leader Li of the Li Family Troupe was particularly frightened.

Ever since Mei Yi, the leader of the Mei Family Troupe, died and the leader of the Wang Family Troupe disappeared, he had become the de facto manager of the Opera House.

So he was also the one who saw the Embroidery yesterday.

He had thought everything was fine once the Embroidery vanished. But as luck would have it, right after the Embroidery disappeared, these killing cultivators showed up to search the place as if they had been tipped off.

Watching the killing cultivators ransack the place, he paced anxiously like an ant on a hot pan.

Fortunately, after turning the place upside down, the killing cultivators didn't find anything. Yan Jing waved his hand again:

"Withdraw!"

As they were leaving, a weak-kneed Leader Li approached Yan Jing. He clutched a stack of gui yuan wrapped in red cloth and shoved it into Yan Jing's arms:

"Advisor, advisor, please accept this. It's just a small token of my appreciation..."

"Ah!"

Yan Jing blocked his hand:

"I cannot accept this, Leader Li. It's the rules!"

As he spoke, he lowered his head and whispered into Leader Li's ear:

"This place will be a focal point for our patrols from now on. My hands are tied, Leader Li. Your past ties with Mei Changfeng ran too deep."

Seeing Leader Li flinch, he continued:

"If you have anything to say, leave it under the third brick in Wanhua Alley later."

With that, he patted Leader Li's shoulder and turned to leave.

...

After a long silence, Leader Li furiously hurled the handful of gui yuan onto the ground.

He had had enough. He really couldn't take it anymore.

Life in Bianliu County was growing more chaotic by the day.

If he really thought about it, the days when the Mei Family and Luo Family were in charge were the most comfortable.

...

...

For their second stop, Yan Jing led his men straight to Blessing Road.

Perhaps having received word beforehand, Dagai had brought a crowd of beggars to line both sides of the street in greeting.

"Welcome to Blessing Road, lords of the Wei Faction!! Wishing you lords good fortune!!!"

The crowd of Beggar Cultivators spoke out, but they did not bow or offer salutations.

For Beggar Cultivators, bowing was a massive taboo.

To bow was to beg for fortune.

"Chief Beggar Huang, we're just here today to search for traces of Mei Changfeng. Don't be nervous."

Yan Jing said with a smile as he approached Dagai.

"I'm not nervous. Not at all."

Dagai waved his filthy hands, though he was cursing Yan Jing's mother in his heart.

But it was precisely because of this that he was extremely tense. Unable to find the threads from the Embroidery last night, he hadn't slept a wink.

Then, just as he had managed to nod off this morning, he received word that these killing cultivators were coming to search the place.

Just his rotten, motherfucking luck.

Before long, amid his anxious waiting, a killing cultivator came running over:

"Advisor!! We found something!!"

"Found something?"

Yan Jing's gaze darkened as he shot a sidelong glance at Dagai, noticing the man's face had gone deathly pale.

"Th-that, that shouldn't be..."

Dagai tried to force a smile, but it looked worse than him crying.

"Chief Beggar Huang, you look quite nervous,"

Yan Jing said with a chuckle.

"Nervous? N-no, I'm not..."

Dagai laughed awkwardly, wiping his sweaty palms on his trousers.

Yan Jing only smiled in response and walked toward the location the killing cultivator had reported.

Dagai quickly followed. His heart rose steadily into his throat the entire way, and he didn't let out a sigh of relief until he saw the killing cultivator lead Yan Jing into a dilapidated thatched hut on the right.

Yan Jing pushed the door open. Inside the tiny room of just a few square meters, the floor was blanketed with gui yuan. On top of the money lay a piece of cloth that read:

Welcome, Lords of the Army

Yan Jing smiled at the sight.

"Chief Beggar Huang, what is this..."

"This is military funding that the brothers have spontaneously gathered for you lords!"

Dagai clapped his hands together, looking deeply chagrined:

"I was just so happy to see you and the others arrive, advisor, I don't know how it completely slipped my mind..."

"I see."

Yan Jing nodded with a grin:

"Well, since Chief Beggar Huang is offering, it would be rude to refuse. Brothers, pack it up!!!"

Clatter, rustle, clink.

Like locusts sweeping through a field, the room's magnificent display was reduced to a desolate mess moments later.

Watching the dim gleam of wealth vanish from the room, Dagai's heart bled.

A significant portion of that was the money he had painstakingly saved over the years.

There was no helping it. On normal days, the vast majority of his subordinates' money ended up in his hands. When a true crisis hit and he needed them to chip in, they simply couldn't produce a dime.

Even so, he forcibly suppressed his heartache and said to Yan Jing:

"Advisor, I know you humans are short on cash. I've set aside a portion in the house next door, offered specifically out of respect for you."

See, these people scrambling for survival were just much more sensible than the actors.

Yan Jing smiled:

"You're too kind, Chief Beggar Huang. I'm only staying for seven days in total. Once the county magistrate is elected, I'll be leaving. I have no need for all this."

"You do, you do."

Dagai's heart ached even more.

Motherfucker, seven days.

If this kind of day dragged on for seven days, Blessing Road would be reduced to a cow dung trail, and his corpse would probably be crawling with maggots.

Fuck your mother, Wei Nantian.

Fuck your mother, you dog of an advisor.

He hurled a torrent of curses in his mind.

Yan Jing suddenly changed the subject:

"If you have anything to say, leave it under the third brick in Wanhua Alley later."

With that, he patted Dagai's shoulder:

"Chief Beggar Huang, think carefully about what Commander Wei really wants..."

Then he turned and left.

...

Third stop.

Yan Jing felt the atmosphere had been primed enough.

So, the group marched straight toward Wanhua Fang.

Along the way, the killing cultivators wore beaming smiles.

After all, Wanhua Fang was the place they had visited most frequently lately.

Couldn't one see that the stone slabs at the entrance to Wanhua Alley had been polished smooth as mirrors from their foot traffic?

Taking this all in, Yan Jing smiled and said nothing.

The large group arrived at Wanhua Alley in a grand, sweeping formation.

Before they even fully entered the alley, every door marked with cinnabar had already swung wide open, while those without the red mark were shut tight.

The message was clear:

Welcome in, you will not be disturbed.

Mu Ruyan stood at the threshold of room 108. Smiling at Yan Jing, her gaze was as soft and inviting as silk:

"This must be our new advisor. You truly are a dragon among men, a man of striking talent. Advisor, why don't I entertain you today? There's no one else inside."

Yan Jing smiled:

"No rush, no rush. It's drafty inside an empty room. Let's stand out here for a bit first."